'Echo': Why The Differences Between Maya's Comic And MCU Incarnations Work

Echo, the first series to air under the MCU's new Marvel Spotlight banner (created for smaller, character-driven stories set within the MCU, but not as tied to the events of the current major saga) has landed on Disney Plus. Spinning-off from the events of Hawkeye, the new series follows Maya Lopez in the aftermath of her shooting of Kingpin, as she heads to her hometown on a personal mission that eventually becomes a tale of self discovery.

Echo has been met with mostly positive reviews among fans and critics with many praising the series' darker tone and fight scene choreography, reminiscent of the Daredevil TV series starring Charlie Cox, who memorably cameos as the masked hero in Echo's opening episode. On the other side of the coin, some have frowned upon Maya's backstory and power set not being comic accurate. While the MCU has often maintained comic accuracy (aside from one or two 'remixes'), in Maya's case, the changes work.

Let's look at the differences between the comic and MCU incarnations of Maya Lopez/Echo, and why the changes made work out for the best when translating the character from page to screen.

Comic Maya

In Marvel Comics, Maya Lopez is orphaned as a small child when her Father, Willie 'Crazy Horse' Lincoln was murdered by Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin. With her Mother having left when she was small and no other family available, Maya, unaware of Kingpin's role in her Father's death, is taken in by Fisk and raised as his own daughter. Born Deaf, and initially believed to be neurologically disabled as well, Maya is sent to a Special Needs school, however, after perfectly replicating a complicated piece of music that had been played to her class on the Piano, it is discovered that Maya is actually gifted, and she is transferred to a school for child prodigies.

As an adult, with help from Daredevil, Maya discovers Fisk's role in the death of her biological Father, and shoots him in the face. The shot is not fatal, but leaves the Crime Lord temporarily blind.

The Maya of the comics does not initially have a 'superpower' per se, but an innate natural ability to perfectly mimic the movements of others, thus eventually taking on the codename 'Echo'. This is a skill she has used to effortlessly become an Olympic level martial artist, concert pianist, ballerina, and to replicate the fighting style of Daredevil. On the downside, her deafness and complete reliance on visual cues render Echo all but helpless in dark environments.

Echo does, for a time, gain true superpowers. She is one of many Marvel heroes selected by the Phoenix Force to compete in a contest to choose it's new host. Though she is easily defeated in an early-round bout against Namor and should technically have been out of the running, the Phoenix is drawn to Maya's adaptability and fierce will to survive, and chooses her as it's host. As host of the Phoenix Force, Maya gains the powers of telepathy, flight, cosmic fire generation, and superhuman strength, speed, and durability. Unfortunately, Maya's Phoenix powers eventually burn out while protecting the God Quarry.

MCU Maya

Unlike comic Maya, who has no family to speak of, the MCU's Maya Lopez spends her early childhood in what appears to be a loving home, with her parents Taloa and William, and extended family, including a much loved cousin, Bonnie. Sadly, William's criminal activities catch up to the family when Taloa is killed in a car crash which also leads to the amputation of Maya's leg.

William takes Maya to New York, where he begins working more directly for Wilson Fisk. Maya is not fully orphaned until she is near adulthood, when William is killed by Clint Barton, then known as Ronin, on a tip off from the Kingpin. While Kingpin is shown to have some level of affection for Maya even as a child, he takes an extra special interest after William's death, teaching her to channel her rage into muscle work for him. In perhaps the most similar moment between Maya's comic and screen incarnations, Maya eventually learns the truth behind Fisk's role in William's death, and shoots, but does not kill him.

Maya is shown to be a skilled Martial Artist, and, like her comic counterpart, possesses photographic reflexes. However, unlike her comic counterpart, the MCU's Maya Lopez also inherits powers from her bloodline, as the descendant of Chafa, the first Choctaw. Maya can call upon the skills, strength, and memories of her ancestors, dubbed 'echos', hence her likely eventual codename. She also has the ability to induce echos of the past in the minds of others.

Why the changes work

There are a few reasons why the changes made by the MCU for Echo serve the character well. The MCU's Maya needed a family to give her character something to connect to and fight for. Plus, in Biscuits, Maya's naive but loveable cousin who does not exist in the comics, the MCU has continued a pattern of screen exclusive comic relief characters, such as Darcy and Luis, who have become fan favourites.

Then we come to Maya's main comic ability of photographic reflexes, which, while cool, aren't exactly unique. Antonia Dreykov, the MCU's Taskmaster, has exactly the same core ability. This is not so much a problem in the comics, where Taskmaster is most commonly a villain/gun-for-hire, but Taskmaster is set to appear as an anti-hero in The Thunderbolts, and in a movie universe where characters are more likely to run into each other, having two unrelated characters of a similar moral alignment share a powerset doesn't work quite so well. So, the addition of Maya's new Ancestral Evocation abilities give her a much needed point of difference, while also celebrating her Indigenous heritage in a fitting way.

We can't wait to see where the character goes next.